Bioavailability of cadmium from crab hepatopancreas and mushroom in relation to inorganic cadmium: a 9-week feeding study in mice.

The bioavailability of Cd from boiled crab hepatopancreas and dried mushroom was studied in relation to that of inorganic Cd (CdCl2). Female Balb/c mice were fed with diets containing 0.4 ppm Cd from either boiled crab (Cancer pagurus) hepatopancreas or dried mushroom (Agaricus augustus), or as inorganic Cd (CdCl2). A control group received low Cd (< 0.007 ppm) feed, and did not accumulate detectable levels of Cd during 9 wk of exposure. Using Cd accumulation in the liver and kidney as a measure of Cd absorption, it was indicated that the bioavailability of Cd from boiled crab hepatopancreas is slightly lower than that of Cd from mushroom and inorganic Cd. Fractionation of Cd in boiled crab hepatopancreas and mushroom indicated that Cd in crab hepatopancreas mainly is associated with denaturated proteins with low solubility, whereas a large fraction of Cd in dried mushroom is associated with soluble ligands. This difference in speciation of Cd may be a reason for the lower bioavailability of crab Cd than that of mushroom Cd. The difference in bioavailability is, however, low and as a safety measure it is recommended that human consumption of both crab hepatopancreas and wild mushrooms with high Cd levels should be restricted.